The 1948 Interzonal tournament was a major qualification event for the 1951 World Chess Championship, held in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden from 16 July to 14 August in 1948.
The United States were invited to send two players to the World Championship; it was assumed at the time that Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine, leading grandmasters and participants in the 1938 AVRO tournament, would be chosen.
[1] Fine was unable to participate in this event due to his studies, and Reshevsky won the tournament by a 2½ point margin from Isaac Kashdan.
It was later decided that Fine would be allowed to play in the World Championship after all, and Kashdan would be treated as the qualifier from the United States Zonal.
The Belgian champion Albéric O'Kelly was the surprise winner, ahead of more fancied players such as Petar Trifunović, Luděk Pachman and László Szabó.
The four players who tied for sixth place were to have played off for three spots in the Candidates tournament, but Bondarevsky had to withdraw due to illness, so the other three qualified automatically.